In all the stories about the Grammys and the Oscars that have come out over the past few weeks, there was one that really intrigued us – John Legend pulling out of a party at the Beverly Hills Hotel, because of opposition to the Sultan of Brunei.

Very worthy, Mr Legend, we thought – but no more than we’d expect from the man who hired a food truck for Eric Garner protestors in New York.

But then we thought, wait. If Hollywood is boycotting the BHH, why has a top Grammys party been booked there in the first place? Has the boycott silently ended? Does sympathy with people who face an Isis-lite stoning for being gay go out of fashion?

Well, that took a long time. Three and a half years ago, the Hotel Verta – riverside in London’s Battersea neighborhood, with a heliport outside the front door – went looking for someone new after its Von Essen hotel group went into administration. That was only a year after it opened in a location that was enough out of the way for it to struggle pretty much from day one.

We’ll admit things have been so quiet we wouldn’t have been able tell you with certainty the Verta was still open, but evidently it was, with the news that it is now the Crowne Plaza London – Battersea. Together with the Crowne Plaza that is being developed near Albert Embankment and the existing City hotel, that will give IHG three Crowne Plazas on or next to the river between Battersea and Blackfriars.

If you're slacking on your New Years Resolution to eat well, stay fit and be of sound mind, don't head to the Canyon Ranch Miami Beach to help you maintain your fitness goals.

The Real Deal reports that the Canyon Ranch franchise will be shed like water weight, thanks to the soon-to-be new owners, Z Capital Partners, who are expected to finalize a deal for the property this week. The new name for the property, which is a mix of residences, guest rooms and fitness facilities will go by...The Carillon Hotel & Spa. Eh. Apparently, it's a throwback name.

Here are the nitty gritty details on the deal as reported by The Real Deal:

For a long time, especially during late 70s and 80s, Atlantic City was considered the Las Vegas of the east, attracting gamblers and partiers from the nearby cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and D.C. for getaway weekends with its combination of casinos and beaches.

When we arrived in Atlantic City last Friday night, it was certainly sad to see the three buildings on the boardwalk essentially abandoned. Things simply did not feel the same. But meanwhile, off in the distance, bright lights could be seen.

We'll probably get coal in our stocking for this latest hotel rumor but Santa Claus already has us on the naughty list, so here it goes:

We got this cryptic email in our inbox a few weeks ago that said:

A Very wealthy Russian is in process of buying a number of Aman Hotels, including the renowned Hotel Bora Bora on the island of Bora Bora which was closed completely some 5 years ago.
With plans to completely renovate or re-build.

(The emailer also wrote "Arman Hotels" but we've taken the liberty of correcting it to Aman, since surely that's what they were talking about.)

This is interesting because Aman Resorts, a collection of stunning luxury retreats, has been the victim of a nasty business dispute, and subsequent lawsuits in the UK and the US, between Russian billionaire Vladislov Doronin, and troubled financier Omar Amanat, who purchased the hotel brand together during a happier time.

Last August was undeniably the peak of hotelier Sam Nazarian's career. After a few years of stagnancy followed by some fast and furious renovations, the worn down Sahara Las Vegas casino and hotel was set free from its Rat Pack history days and transformed into the modern, design-forward, and frankly, thrilling SLS Las Vegas.

We attended the opening (you can read that coverage here) and even though we knew Nazarian didn't single-handedly breathe new life into a rather depressing end of the Las Vegas Strip, he was the visionary behind everything that is now in place at the resort--from Chef Jose Andres Bazaar Meat restaurant to Philippe Starck's stylish guest rooms, Umami Burger, LiFE Nightclub, Griddle Cafe and a handful of retail boutiques from Fred Segal.

Making the opening night of the SLS more meaningful for Sam was that he and his dad rang in the SLS opening bell in a ballroom where Frank Sinatra and other legends once performed.

But now, those legendary moments are over. At least for Nazarian in Las Vegas.

Stockbridge Capital, the company that owns 90 percent of the SLS Las Vegas to Nazarian's SBE's 10 percent, announced yesterday that Nazarian will no longer be involved in the management of the SLS Las Vegas.

We’ll start with the good news first: of the twelve hotel employees that were injured after the gas blast at the Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill, only one remains hospitalized, with non-life threatening injuries. Having walked by the hotel, we can also confirm that statements about part of the building having “collapsed” seem exaggerated: as you can see in the photos further below, the building is intact, and only at the rear of the building does there seem to be any damage.

Unfortunately, the official statement on the hotel website, and the notices we saw, do say that the hotel is “currently closed for the foreseeable future”.

It looks like Hurricane Odile is still causing trouble in Cabo. Aside from structurally damaging nearly every resort and forcing many of them to close for several months, the hurricane stirred up some behind-the-scenes drama.

We've already chronicled the saga of The Resort at Pedregal which kicked out Capella Hotels as their managing brand. Now the same things seems to be happening at Secrets Marquis. Initially, Secrets Marquis said they would reopen on December 20. Then, their Facebook page made an update saying that the resort would be closed until further notice.

Over the weekend, a tipster told us the resort made another kind of announcement on Facebook last week, claiming parent company of Secrets--AM Resorts--has been locked out of the property. Here's the full statement:

Some terrible news out of London just as the weekend was starting a few days ago: around 11.40pm on Friday night, a gas explosion occurred in the basement of the Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill, injuring twelve hotel employees.

All guests were evacuated and accommodated at nearby hotels. Various news outlets, including the BBC, are referring to a few people being hospitalized, with the total number of guests evacuated at around 500. No guests were injured, according to a Hyatt spokesperson.

While The Telegraph opens with the blast having caused “part of the building to collapse”, the main structure of the building is intact. The London Fire Brigade, which responded to the incident, believes it due to a suspected gas leak, resulting in “extensive damage to the basement and the ground floor”.

We hope the injured will recover soon. We’ll keep you posted if there is a longer-term impact on the Hyatt, but leave you for now with the official statement from the hotel’s website:

The luck has gone from bad to worse to slightly better and then back to worse for the now-closed Revel Resort & Casino on Atlantic City's boardwalk. The Canadian firm who announced last month they would buy the resort for a bargain $110 million has decided to drop the deal.

Toronto-based Brookfield US Holdings LLC has simply said that it "terminated the Revel acquisition." The Press of Atlantic City first reported the news and said the reason for the termination was because " bondholders refused to rework debt connected to construction of Revel’s power plant." The power plant story is kind of a doozy. Read the Press' report to find out more.

So what does this mean for Revel? Well, a backup buyer was named at the bankruptcy auction, developer Glenn Straub. He even appealed the bankruptcy court decision to name Brookfield as owner. The good news is, he's still very interested but he doesn't seem keen to keep the aspect of Revel. Hey, something is better than nothing, right?

One of the most talked about mixed-use developments in the history of Hollywood is having a hard time getting off the ground, mostly because of what is going on below the ground. Millennium Hollywood, aka "MillHoll," is an ambitious live-work-stay destination that aims to add about a million square feet, and a 200-room luxury hotel, onto a couple of vacant parking lots. MillHoll is located next door to the iconic Capital Records Tower, which is to be a highlighted feature of the mega-urban project.

The hottest issue that may be keeping MillHoll from advancing past renderings form is whether or not the land is sitting on top of an active earthquake fault. If it's true, that's one hell of a "no-no."

Over the weekend, there was a slight reprieve in the press release war between Capella Hotels and the owners of The Resort at Pedregal but judging by the latter's social media postings, they are not backing down and will forge ahead with their new identity and management.

Quick backstory in case you missed it last week: The owners of Pedregal terminated Capella as the luxury resort's manager, installed a new GM (from a Wyndham hotel in Chicago, btw) and locked Capella's old GM out of the property. Capella took the owners to the NY Supreme Court and got a ruling which reinstated them as managers. Meanwhile, the resort is still closed for ongoing renovations due to damage sustained by Hurricane Odile.

Could this BE any more of a hotel telenovela???

Over the weekend, perhaps to show off their determination in the face of the court ruling, The Resort at Pedregal has been steady with their social media postings. Here are a couple of posts from their Facebook feed: